Posted September 29, 2023
(Part 1)
v1.60
World:
• The map generator now uses a more appropriate full-cycle feedback function for generating random numbers.
• Towers of Wizardry now connect to land on both-, but at least one end whenever possible, without spawning closer to each other than absolutely necessary (reverses and obsoletes 009).
• Towers of Wizardry are now again always at least 4 tiles away from magical Nodes.
• Magical Nodes are now created on land whenever possible (replaces 012).
• The map generator now places mandatory objects (starting cities, towers, nodes, and encounters) on the map in a most restrictive to least restrictive order by default. However, it is also possible to force it into "legacy mode", where the objects are placed using the 1.31 order, observing the original mechanics. Triggering this mode has the following requirements: the Custom Worlds, Old Node Generator, and Old Tower generator patch features must be enabled and, on both planes if applicable, Land Tiles have to be at least 360, Continent Size Limit must be zero, Single Continent needs to be off, Terrain Height must be Low or Normal, and all of Tundra Reach, Max Swamps, and Max Deserts have to be 8 or lower. Any other features and settings may be freely adjusted.
• Encounter Zones are again not allowed to be adjacent to each other, unless this is required to finish creating the map (reverses and obsoletes 014).
• Encounter Zones are no longer created adjacent to starting Cities.
• Nodes, Towers, and islands created by them can no longer sometimes merge into the polar caps.
• Rivers no longer sometimes end abruptly with no outflow tiles.
• Tundra tiles adjacent to rivers now always have the correct terrain transitions (obsoletes 800).
• Starting cities can no longer occasionally have a maximum population lower than 5.
• High Elf starting cities are now always on Forest tiles (replaces 594).
• Neutral cities no longer ignore maximum population imposed by terrain (obsoletes 521).
• Barbarian Spearmen can now appear as initial units in neutral garrisons.
• Halfling, Beastmen, and Nomad neutral cities no longer start with bigger garrisons than intended when their population is above a certain treshold (reverses IM192).
• Dark Elf neutral cities no longer start with smaller garrisons than intended (obsoletes IM192).
• Encounters eligible for two picks' worth of special treasure no longer sometimes only yield one.
• Randomly generated magical items now always have the intended amount powers.
• Restored the 1.31 mechanics for generating Raiders and Rampaging Monsters, with the exception of an upward shift of Impossible in Difficulty-based formulae (it being replaced by Extreme). All other changes introduced in the unofficial patches have been rolled into Revolting Raiders and Monsters Gone Wild. However, do note that these are now patch features, and must be set when creating the game. They can no longer be toggled in ongoing campaigns.
• Starting or loading an Easy difficulty game no longer prevents Random Events from occurring, possibly turning off the related setting globally as well (bug introduced in v1.40).
Combat:
• Normal difficulty no longer incorrectly allows fleeing combat with no losses(bug introduced in v1.40).
Wizards:
• Finding the Famous retort in treasure now correctly awards its +10 Fame.
• Finding the Artificer retort in treasure now awards the corresponding item crafting spells if not known already.
• Divine Power and Infernal Power are now correctly prevented from being awarded to wizards possessing opposite spellbooks.
Spells:
• Retorts that decrease the casting cost of crafting spells no longer make those spells easier to counter.
AI:
• Computer players no longer occasionally start the game with more than 6 retorts.
• Computer players are no longer prevented from disbanding obsolete units for several turns when a game is loaded from the main menu.
User Interface:
• Corrected the casting cost of Bless in the context-based help.
• The error prompts on the wizard customization screen are now consistent in their display, and no longer sometimes cause graphic glitches when clicked away.
• The Custom wizard button is now framed correctly.
• Cities can now be renamed from the City Screen.
• Cities can now be cycled through from the City Screen.
• Having exactly 12, 18, or 24 active enchantments on a city no longer prevents upward scrolling from wrapping to the last page of them.
• The food, gold, and mana income displays of the main overland view now always show accurate values.
• Having no units selected in the main overland view no longer causes a drop in frame rate and responsiveness in the later stages of the game (bug introduced in v1.40).
• The quick save function no longer uses the same slot as the auto save.
• The game no longer sometimes fails to re-select a stack from which a unit used the Meld or Build (outpost) commands.
• Units with no moves remaining can no longer be given movement orders using the opposite plane.
• Trying to assign an invalid destination to an already finished (out of moves) army no longer deselects that army.
• Clicking the Plane button during spell targeting no longer deselects the active stack, if any.
• Receiving a pick reward no longer prevents the last list separator from being added to the treasure text.
• Trying to issue a build order to engineers while viewing the opposite plane now automatically centers on them instead.
• Non-selected engineers no longer count into the build time prediction when planning a road, unless they are already building on the origin tile.
• The Surveyor, Cartographer, Apprentice, Historian, and Astrologer advisors, as well as the Mirror, the combat-, and the overland spellbooks may now also be closed with the same key bindings that are used to open them.
• The item creation screen now features context-based help.
• Deleting the item name during creation now always assigns a new default.
• Pressing both mouse buttons at the same time will no longer trigger inappropriate interface elements.
• The mouse pointer no longer snaps to interface elements triggered through a key binding. This behaviour is now optional instead.
• The directional keys no longer snap the mouse pointer to interface elements in the indicated direction. This behaviour is now optional instead.
• Pressing a key that can't be interpreted by the game will no longer snap the mouse pointer to inappropriate interface elements.
• Ctrl + key press combinations are no longer misinterpreted as other input.
• Interface elements with an assigned key binding are no longer ignored by the (now legacy) mouse pointer movement functionality.
• Right-clicking during a confirmation dialog no longer triggers context- based help on the screen behind it (causing a crash when the dialog is then closed on certain screens).
• Ability help trigger areas no longer overlap in the hiring dialogs.
• The Settings screen is now multi-page, and highlights the option being moused over.
• Restored the "End of Turn Wait" setting (removed in v1.40).
• Restored the "Auto Unit Information" setting (removed in v1.40).
• Restored the "Show Node Owners" setting (removed in v1.50).
• Reverted "Automatic Combat" to the original "Strategic Combat Only".
• The "Backup Saves" setting now has the appropriate help text.
• "Revolting Raiders" is now a Patch Feature instead of a game setting.
• "Monsters Gone Wild" is now a Patch Feature instead of a game setting.
• Added setting: "Allow Duplicate Keys" - binding a key that is already in use on the same screen does not remove the previous binding.
• Added setting: "Legacy Pointer Movement" - restores mouse pointer movement to key-activated interface elements, and directional snapping to adjacent controls using the legacy bindings.
• Added setting: "Screen Edge Scrolling" - moving the mouse to an edge of the screen scrolls the main overland map in that direction.
• Added setting: "Edge Scroll Delay" - adds a short delay between moving the mouse to a screen edge and the start of scrolling.
• Added setting: "More Random Items" - half of all items are created from scratch instead of using defaults, and items created this way have access to the full range of item powers, not just attribute increases.
• Added a key binding interface. It can be reached from the Settings screen.
• All of the original non-debug hotkeys have been reimplemented as dynamic bindings, with the exceptions of the 'A' key used to accept hero offers, which has been merged into the generic Ok/Yes/Accept bindings instead; and the 'N' key used to switch planes in the Cartographer, which now uses the overland view's switch plane (Plane button) binding.
• Added key binding: "Quick Load" (overland) - loads from the quick save slot (SAVE10.GAM).
• Added key binding: "Quit Without Saving" (overland) - exits without preforming an auto / continue save.
• Added key binding: "Default Item Editor" (overland) - invokes an in-game default item editor (replaces ITEMMAKE.EXE).
• Added key bindings: "Find Next / Previous Army" (overland) - cycyles the view through the player's non- garrison armies (no selection is made).
• Added key bindings: "Save / Recall Location" (overland) - stores and recalls up to 8 map locations that are also saved with the game.
• Added key bindings: "Next / Previous City" (overland) - cycles the view through the player's cities (without entering them).
• Added key bindings: "Scroll Map Up / Down / Left / Right" (overland) - scrolls the overland map in the indicated direction.
• Added key bindings: "Next / Previous Control" (interface) - cycles through the visible interface elements in a non-directional fashion (by index).
v1.60
World:
• The map generator now uses a more appropriate full-cycle feedback function for generating random numbers.
• Towers of Wizardry now connect to land on both-, but at least one end whenever possible, without spawning closer to each other than absolutely necessary (reverses and obsoletes 009).
• Towers of Wizardry are now again always at least 4 tiles away from magical Nodes.
• Magical Nodes are now created on land whenever possible (replaces 012).
• The map generator now places mandatory objects (starting cities, towers, nodes, and encounters) on the map in a most restrictive to least restrictive order by default. However, it is also possible to force it into "legacy mode", where the objects are placed using the 1.31 order, observing the original mechanics. Triggering this mode has the following requirements: the Custom Worlds, Old Node Generator, and Old Tower generator patch features must be enabled and, on both planes if applicable, Land Tiles have to be at least 360, Continent Size Limit must be zero, Single Continent needs to be off, Terrain Height must be Low or Normal, and all of Tundra Reach, Max Swamps, and Max Deserts have to be 8 or lower. Any other features and settings may be freely adjusted.
• Encounter Zones are again not allowed to be adjacent to each other, unless this is required to finish creating the map (reverses and obsoletes 014).
• Encounter Zones are no longer created adjacent to starting Cities.
• Nodes, Towers, and islands created by them can no longer sometimes merge into the polar caps.
• Rivers no longer sometimes end abruptly with no outflow tiles.
• Tundra tiles adjacent to rivers now always have the correct terrain transitions (obsoletes 800).
• Starting cities can no longer occasionally have a maximum population lower than 5.
• High Elf starting cities are now always on Forest tiles (replaces 594).
• Neutral cities no longer ignore maximum population imposed by terrain (obsoletes 521).
• Barbarian Spearmen can now appear as initial units in neutral garrisons.
• Halfling, Beastmen, and Nomad neutral cities no longer start with bigger garrisons than intended when their population is above a certain treshold (reverses IM192).
• Dark Elf neutral cities no longer start with smaller garrisons than intended (obsoletes IM192).
• Encounters eligible for two picks' worth of special treasure no longer sometimes only yield one.
• Randomly generated magical items now always have the intended amount powers.
• Restored the 1.31 mechanics for generating Raiders and Rampaging Monsters, with the exception of an upward shift of Impossible in Difficulty-based formulae (it being replaced by Extreme). All other changes introduced in the unofficial patches have been rolled into Revolting Raiders and Monsters Gone Wild. However, do note that these are now patch features, and must be set when creating the game. They can no longer be toggled in ongoing campaigns.
• Starting or loading an Easy difficulty game no longer prevents Random Events from occurring, possibly turning off the related setting globally as well (bug introduced in v1.40).
Combat:
• Normal difficulty no longer incorrectly allows fleeing combat with no losses(bug introduced in v1.40).
Wizards:
• Finding the Famous retort in treasure now correctly awards its +10 Fame.
• Finding the Artificer retort in treasure now awards the corresponding item crafting spells if not known already.
• Divine Power and Infernal Power are now correctly prevented from being awarded to wizards possessing opposite spellbooks.
Spells:
• Retorts that decrease the casting cost of crafting spells no longer make those spells easier to counter.
AI:
• Computer players no longer occasionally start the game with more than 6 retorts.
• Computer players are no longer prevented from disbanding obsolete units for several turns when a game is loaded from the main menu.
User Interface:
• Corrected the casting cost of Bless in the context-based help.
• The error prompts on the wizard customization screen are now consistent in their display, and no longer sometimes cause graphic glitches when clicked away.
• The Custom wizard button is now framed correctly.
• Cities can now be renamed from the City Screen.
• Cities can now be cycled through from the City Screen.
• Having exactly 12, 18, or 24 active enchantments on a city no longer prevents upward scrolling from wrapping to the last page of them.
• The food, gold, and mana income displays of the main overland view now always show accurate values.
• Having no units selected in the main overland view no longer causes a drop in frame rate and responsiveness in the later stages of the game (bug introduced in v1.40).
• The quick save function no longer uses the same slot as the auto save.
• The game no longer sometimes fails to re-select a stack from which a unit used the Meld or Build (outpost) commands.
• Units with no moves remaining can no longer be given movement orders using the opposite plane.
• Trying to assign an invalid destination to an already finished (out of moves) army no longer deselects that army.
• Clicking the Plane button during spell targeting no longer deselects the active stack, if any.
• Receiving a pick reward no longer prevents the last list separator from being added to the treasure text.
• Trying to issue a build order to engineers while viewing the opposite plane now automatically centers on them instead.
• Non-selected engineers no longer count into the build time prediction when planning a road, unless they are already building on the origin tile.
• The Surveyor, Cartographer, Apprentice, Historian, and Astrologer advisors, as well as the Mirror, the combat-, and the overland spellbooks may now also be closed with the same key bindings that are used to open them.
• The item creation screen now features context-based help.
• Deleting the item name during creation now always assigns a new default.
• Pressing both mouse buttons at the same time will no longer trigger inappropriate interface elements.
• The mouse pointer no longer snaps to interface elements triggered through a key binding. This behaviour is now optional instead.
• The directional keys no longer snap the mouse pointer to interface elements in the indicated direction. This behaviour is now optional instead.
• Pressing a key that can't be interpreted by the game will no longer snap the mouse pointer to inappropriate interface elements.
• Ctrl + key press combinations are no longer misinterpreted as other input.
• Interface elements with an assigned key binding are no longer ignored by the (now legacy) mouse pointer movement functionality.
• Right-clicking during a confirmation dialog no longer triggers context- based help on the screen behind it (causing a crash when the dialog is then closed on certain screens).
• Ability help trigger areas no longer overlap in the hiring dialogs.
• The Settings screen is now multi-page, and highlights the option being moused over.
• Restored the "End of Turn Wait" setting (removed in v1.40).
• Restored the "Auto Unit Information" setting (removed in v1.40).
• Restored the "Show Node Owners" setting (removed in v1.50).
• Reverted "Automatic Combat" to the original "Strategic Combat Only".
• The "Backup Saves" setting now has the appropriate help text.
• "Revolting Raiders" is now a Patch Feature instead of a game setting.
• "Monsters Gone Wild" is now a Patch Feature instead of a game setting.
• Added setting: "Allow Duplicate Keys" - binding a key that is already in use on the same screen does not remove the previous binding.
• Added setting: "Legacy Pointer Movement" - restores mouse pointer movement to key-activated interface elements, and directional snapping to adjacent controls using the legacy bindings.
• Added setting: "Screen Edge Scrolling" - moving the mouse to an edge of the screen scrolls the main overland map in that direction.
• Added setting: "Edge Scroll Delay" - adds a short delay between moving the mouse to a screen edge and the start of scrolling.
• Added setting: "More Random Items" - half of all items are created from scratch instead of using defaults, and items created this way have access to the full range of item powers, not just attribute increases.
• Added a key binding interface. It can be reached from the Settings screen.
• All of the original non-debug hotkeys have been reimplemented as dynamic bindings, with the exceptions of the 'A' key used to accept hero offers, which has been merged into the generic Ok/Yes/Accept bindings instead; and the 'N' key used to switch planes in the Cartographer, which now uses the overland view's switch plane (Plane button) binding.
• Added key binding: "Quick Load" (overland) - loads from the quick save slot (SAVE10.GAM).
• Added key binding: "Quit Without Saving" (overland) - exits without preforming an auto / continue save.
• Added key binding: "Default Item Editor" (overland) - invokes an in-game default item editor (replaces ITEMMAKE.EXE).
• Added key bindings: "Find Next / Previous Army" (overland) - cycyles the view through the player's non- garrison armies (no selection is made).
• Added key bindings: "Save / Recall Location" (overland) - stores and recalls up to 8 map locations that are also saved with the game.
• Added key bindings: "Next / Previous City" (overland) - cycles the view through the player's cities (without entering them).
• Added key bindings: "Scroll Map Up / Down / Left / Right" (overland) - scrolls the overland map in the indicated direction.
• Added key bindings: "Next / Previous Control" (interface) - cycles through the visible interface elements in a non-directional fashion (by index).